Soul Wardens
The Soul Wardens are a Loyalist Successor Chapter of the brutal and merciless Executioners Chapter, themselves a descendant of the vaunted Imperial Fists, created during the 22nd Founding to help prosecute the Great Cull. After their admirable and zealous conduct in the Great Cull, the High Lords of Terra gifted them a mighty war fleet, and the Soul Wardens promptly set sail amongst the stars as a Crusading Chapter. The Soul Wardens have long venerated the time of the Great Crusade, and the original beliefs and mission of the Emperor. They have taken it upon themselves to uphold those tenets and to never cease in fighting to restore the Imperium to its former glory. Although they are successors of the Executioners Chapter and long maintained close contacts with their primogenitors, after the events of the Badab War the Soul Wardens have largely broken off contact with their genetic forebears. Instead, they have pledged new oaths of brotherhood to the Imperial Fists as sons of Rogal Dorn, and in recent decades have fought in the Indomitus Crusade underneath the reborn Primarch Roboute Gulliman, earning many battle honors. The Soul Wardens are currently mustering together as one chapter to aid Imperial forces at Sangua Terra as part of the continuing war for the Nachmund Gauntlet. The Soul Wardens recognize that if the Gauntlet were to fall then Imperium Nihilus, perhaps even the entire galaxy is lost. Each member of the chapter has taken the most solemn of oaths in front of the brothers that such an outcome will not unfold. Chapter History In the wake of the disastrous Reign of Blood and the Plague of Unbelief that sprung out of the Age of Apostasy, the High Lords launched the Great Cull. The Great Cull was a vast undertaking to purge the Imperium of heretics and hereteks through systematic extermination to restore order and their rule. In order to aid in facilitating this effort a new founding of Adeptus Astartes was raised, the 22nd Founding in the history of the Imperium. As part of this founding, the Soul Wardens aided the forces of the High Lords in culling heretics and restoring order, destroying petty empires created by treacherous Cardinals and forcefully bringing secessionists back into the Imperial fold. The Soul Wardens would win great renown and many battle honors during the Great Cull, with the High Lords rewarding them after its conclusion with a mighty war fleet and a host of rare and ancient wargear. Rumors persist that much of this bounty was in fact claimed by the chapter after the destruction of several Astartes chapters that had broken their vows to the Imperium. However, these rumors can only be taken as conjecture and the Soul Wardens themselves remain silent on the matter. For the next millennia, the Soul Warden would continue their mission. Their fleet would often aid Imperial Crusades in reclaiming worlds for the Imperium or would arrive within besieged or treasonous sub-sectors, restoring stability and loyalty. The Soul Wardens would replenish their numbers from the populations of Imperials worlds they defended and brought back into compliance, their fleets hovering in the void until the region was deemed secure, at which point they would once again leave for new battlefields. Records show battle honors attributed to the Soul Wardens in many battles during this period, attached to such events as the Taninim and Bellrath Crusades, as well as actions during several Black Crusades. In the first half of the 41st millennium, the Soul Wardens would join the seven-year-long Macharian Crusades, a massive effort to retake hundreds of worlds in the Segmentum Pacificus that had been lost during the events of the Age of Apostasy. The crusade was the largest launched since the Great Crusade and was incredibly successful. However, in the wake of the death of Lord Solar Macharius, his generals in their greed would devolve into infighting and treachery in what would become known as the Macharian Heresy. Disgusted, the Soul Wardens would play a role in quelling this heresy and ..... (To be added) As the 41st millennium continued the Soul Wardens would partake in several crusades and battles, as well as engaging in continuing battles with two newly arise threats that would become some of the most reviled foes of the chapter, the T'au Empire and the Tyrannic Hive Fleets. The Soul Wardens would fight in both Damocles Crusades and in the Zeist Campaign against the T’au, as well as participating heavily in actions against the Tyranids, the most notable being their actions fighting Hive Fleet Kraken during the Second Tyrannic War. As the 41st millennium ended and the formation of the Great Rift sundered the Imperium in two, the Soul Wardens became trapped within the Heimdall Sector while resupplying after continuous actions against the T'au. The Noctis Aeterna cast its shadow over the galaxy, and the Soul Wardens desperately fought in order to not just defend the Sector but to survive for what seemed like decades as time heaved in agony amidst vast and terrible warp storms. Soon, the Khornate Blood Crusade would sweep across the Region, pressing the Imperial defenders and the Soul Wardens to their limits. The Blood Crusade would recede as fast as it appeared, though false deliverance was revealed as the warp storms abated only to show the invading tendrils of Hive Fleet Kronos. Faced with an enemy they only knew too well, the Soul Wardens led Imperial forces in the battle against the Tyranid, but they would not go unaided. The dissipation of the Noctis Aeterna presaged not just the arrival of Hive Fleet Kronos but also allowed forces from the Indomitus Crusade to reach the beleaguered Soul Wardens and other Imperial defenders. Reinforced by new Primaris marines, the Soul Wardens would assemble a mighty warhost. The resurgent Imperials would crush the tendrils of Kronos, and as Imperial relief forces flooded into the region the Soul Wardens would gather their forces and form a battlegroup that would embark to join Roboute Gulliman's Indomitus Crusade. The Indomitus Crusade would be heralded as the Soul Warden’s finest hour. Here before them was a reborn son of the Emperor himself, conducting a massive crusade on the scale of the Great Crusade that formed the Imperium. To the Soul Wardens, this was their destiny and the first spark of hope they had seen during their millennia of crusading. No longer would they simply fight to resist further stagnation while forlornly looking to the past, now they would look to the potential of a new and glorious future. Chapter Organization The Soul Wardens are a semi-codex compliant chapter, obeying most of the strictures of the Codex Astartes with a few differences as a result of influences from their primogenitor and their nature as a fleet-based chapter. The Chapter is centered around the mighty star fortress the ''Imperial Sovereign ''which serves as the mobile fortress-monastery of the Soul Wardens. It is from the ''Imperial Sovereign ''where the Lord Commander heads up the High Council which decides the governance and direction of the chapter. The High Council is comprised of various Masters, each of whom is given a specific responsibility in running the chapter. The Chapter Master, each Company Captain, the head of the chapter’s Honor Guard, and the heads of the various specialist orders each are made Masters of the chapter. Due to the chapter’s anachronistic beliefs and fervent followers of the Emperor’s original vision, the Soul Wardens do not maintain a Librarius. Instead, the Chaplaincy is expanded and charged with additional duties. Like their primogenitors, the Executioners, each company features three chaplains, each with a specific duty in maintaining the spiritual health of the chapter. The Orators administer sermons to the company’s marines both on and off the battlefield and also recounts the great deeds of the chapter during Grand Feasts. The Chroniclers keep a watchful eye over the marines in their company, recording their deeds for future honor or censure, and ensuring that corruption has not taken hold. The Confessors hear the doubts and transgressions of those marines and deliver absolution and proper penance, they are also the most martial, channeling the sins of the chapter into a righteous rage to smite the foes of the Imperium. Regardless of their role, all chaplains report to the Reclusiarch and the High Chaplain, who are ultimately in charge of the spiritual health, records, and relics of the entire chapter. The Soul Wardens are a warrior fraternity, the bonds of brotherhood and loyalty are emphasized beyond that of even other astartes chapters. Each squad is referred to as a brotherhood and is a formation comprised of Battle-Brothers that fight together due to the links of friendship and honor forged over decades of war. Each brotherhood is led by a Sergeant and is comprised of individual combat squads that are led by marines with the rank of First Brother, themselves marines being groomed to eventually take the mantle of Sergeant. While the composition of Brotherhoods often changes over time, the bonds that are formed between marines remain. These brotherhoods are also versatile formations, while all will be geared towards a certain specialty, squads will often modify equipment, and in the case of Primaris squad types, in order to meet tactical needs. In the case of Firstborn marines squads may choose to wield boarding shields or to exchange bolters for chain weapons, Assault squads may opt to forgo their jump packs, and Devastator squads may elect to wield special weapons instead of their typical heavy weapons. This trend is facilitated by a measure of cross-training given to marines, and the close cohesion and teamwork displayed by the chapter. Officer Ranks Specialist Ranks Line Ranks Specialist Formations Order of Battle Headquarters Companies Combat Doctrine Chapter Beliefs Chapter Gene-Seed Primarch's Curse: (Add Name) Notable Members Deathwatch Service Chapter Fleet Chapter Relics Chapter Appearance Chapter Colours Chapter Badge Relations Allies Enemies Notable Quotes By the Soul Wardens About the Soul Wardens Category:Fleet-Based Chapters Category:Imperial Fists Successors Category:Imperium Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines Category:22nd Founding